Regional aircraft are flying nearly 7 percent more flights this summer than last.

While the number of regional aircraft flights is up over last year, the number of regional seats in the air is growing at a faster clip because the carriers are flying larger planes, said Frederick Roe, an analyst with BACK Aviation Solutions. There are nearly 11 percent more regional seats in the air this summer compared to last summer. In an exclusive report prepared for Regional Aviation News, BACK analyzed the growth of regional traffic for the summer months of June, July and August of 2004 to this summer's schedules. BACK includes regional jets, turboprops and piston-powered planes in its analysis. Its report covered the United States, Canada, Central America and the Caribbean.

A recent federal report found a pattern similar to BACK's study. Regional jets now constitute 32 percent of the total aircraft mix based on scheduled flights in July, compared to 18 percent in July 2002, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Prop-powered aircraft - both turboprop and piston-powered - now account for 19 percent of the total fleet, compared to 27 percent in 2002. The use of mainline aircraft fell from 55 percent in July 2002 to 49 percent this month.

While there has been a net increase in the number of regional flights and regional seats in the air, the BACK analysis also found a lot of shifting of the regional aircraft from one route to another from one summer to the next.

"It confirms that the airlines continue to reevaluate how they use their most expensive assets," Roe said. "What I was surprised to see is how many flights have been added and abandoned. There is a lot of movement."

A look at seven U.S. city pairs where the number of regional routes has increased by more than 1,000 percent reveals a number of reasons for the shifting of regional assets. Carriers are substituting their regional aircraft to replace their own mainline aircraft; deploying regional aircraft to compete against another carrier's mainline aircraft; using regional aircraft to open new markets; and, in some markets, switching from regional jets to turboprop aircraft.

"There are countless reasons why they are doing these things," Roe said.

Of the 10 U.S. carriers that either fly regional aircraft or have code-share relationships with regional airlines, Delta Air Lines [DAL] is the only carrier to fly fewer regional flights this summer compared to last - it is flying 904 fewer flights. However, Delta will still fly 258,397 regional flights this summer and remain the largest operator of regional flights. Of the traditional network carriers, Continental Airlines [CAL] has scheduled the largest increase of regional flights, 13.2 percent. Nevertheless, Frontier Airlines [FRNT], a low-cost airline that uses Horizon Air [ALK] for its regional operations, will boost is regional schedule the most this summer with a 20 percent increase in regional flights.

Frontier also holds the top spot for seat growth as it expects to fly 31 percent more regional seats this summer - 2.1 million seats compared to last year's 1.6 million seats, according to BACK's data. United Airlines [UALAQ] leads the pack of traditional network carriers with a 19.2 percent increase in scheduled regional seats, or a gain of 1.5 million regional seats to 9.5 million.

United's growth can be attributed to its aggressive rollout of 70-seat RJs. SkyWest Airlines [SKYW] and Mesa Air Group [MESA] continue to put more Bombardier [BBD] CRJ 700s into service. GoJet, a unit of Trans States Holdings, will join them next month. At the same time, Republic Airways [RJET] adds about one plane per month to its fleet of Embraer [ERJ] 170s, which it has been flying exclusively for United.

There are six U.S. airports that have had an increase of more than 1,000 regional flights this summer compared to last summer.

There are 1,610 more regional flights this year from Dallas-Fort Worth to Killeen-Fort Hood Regional Airport, for a total of 2,126 regional flights. This dramatic growth can be attributed to the opening of the airport last August. Previously, this Texas community was served by the small Killeen Municipal Airport. With civilian facilities now available at the Army airfield, American Eagle [AMR] has 11 daily flights and ExpressJet [XJT] has six daily departures.

According to BACK, there are 1,509 more Charlotte to New York LaGuardia flights; 1,320 more Washington Dulles to Pittsburgh flights; 1,230 more Indianapolis to Chicago O'Hare flights; and 1,094 more flights from Los Angeles International Airport to Salt Lake City.

>>Contacts: John Weber, Frederick Roe, BACK Aviation Solutions, (203) 752-2000.<<